Door latch mechanism



May 16, 1944- L. B, M. BUCHANAN DOOR LATCH MECHANISM Filed Jan. 8, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR 1:505 5 M [sac/mm 62 ATTORNE May 16, 1944-. 1.. B. M. BUCHANAN DOOR LATCH MECHANISM 2 Shets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 8, 1942 M R TH N NC, Eu R VB mm Wm B wm f WWESL 7' E door-opening mechanism.

mental Ml, 1c, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DOOR v LeslieB. M. Buchanan, slirlna'fleld, Mesa, assignor to Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Penney Application January 8, 1942, swarm). 425,954 3 Claims. -(c1. 292-255) The invention relates to a door latch mechanism and more especially to a treadle-actuated It is an object of the invention to provide a door-opening mechanism of greater convenience.

Another object of the invention is to provide a treadle-operated door-opening and closing mechanimn.

A further object of the invention is to provide a, door-opening mechanism especially adapted for refrigerator cabinets.

These and other'obiects are effected by my invention as will be apparent from the following description and claims taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a domestic refrigerator cabinet with parts broken away to show; the door-opening mechanism of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 11-11 of Fig. 1, but showing in full; 7

. Fig. 3 is a view of some of the latch elements of Fig. 2, showing these elements in the latchv retracted position; and

Fig. 4 is an elevation of some of the latch elements shown in Fig. 3 as viewed from the plane Ill-W.

Referring now to the drawings for a detailed desciiption of the invention, the reference nu-- gently biases the door l3 to the closed position.

The bias of the spring is slight so that the pressure of the door is not objectionable to a person engaged in inserting or removing articles into or from the food-storage chamber H.

s A trigger latch mechanism I9 is secured within the door l3 and a. cooperating latch keeper 2| is secured to the front face or door strike 22 of the food-storage chamber II. The triggerlatch mechanism is includes a housing comprising two metal plates 23 held in spaced relationship by a pin 39. Each of the plates 23 has an outwardly-turned lug 24 and each lug 24 is sethe latch bolt and trigger.

of their extremities to the portion of the rod 21 between the plates 23. The plates 28 are held in spaced relationship by two pins 29 and}! and the pin 3| forms a bearing for a roller 32 located between the plates 23. ,The plates 28 and roller 32 form a latch bolt 33. Lugs 34 are formed on the plates 28 of the latch bolt 33 and 9. lug 36 is formed on the plates 23 which lugs 34 and 33,-respectlvely, engage the ends of a compres- ;s'ibn spring which biases the latch bolt 33 for counterclgckwiserotation as viewed in Figs. 2

and3.-

A trigger 38 is mounted on pin 39 and is biased for clockwise rotationby a spring 4| coiled thereon. The trigger 38 consists of a frame-like metal chamber l I.

stamping, which straddles the latch bolt 33, and extends between the latch bolt 33 and the casing 23. The two sides of the trigger frame 38 are notched to provide shoulders-42 which engage two lugs 43 cut from the plates 23 of the latch bolt 33. The lugs 43 and the shoulders 42 are so arranged that when the latch bolt 33 is moved in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figs. 2 and 3, the shoulders 42 will engage the lugs 43 on the latch bolt 33 and hold the latch bolt 33 against the bias of the compression spring 31.

The latchkeeper 2i on the front edge of the food-storage chamber ll projects therefrom, and an opening 46 is provided on the inner sheet Id of the door l3 adjacent the latch mechanism i9, which opening 46 receives the latch keeper 2| when the door I3 is closed. The portion of the latch keeper 2! which enters the opening 46 in the door. l3 comprises a surface" slightly inclined to the front surface of the food-storage chamber l l. The poller 32 engages the surface 41 of the keeper 2| when the door I3 is closed and is forced along the surface 41 by the compression spring 31, to bias the door 13 and its sealing gasket 48 into close engagement with the front surface of the vertical walls of the foodstorage chamber II. This action slightly compresses the gasket 48 to form a good sealing en gageinent between the edges of the door and the front surface of the walls of the food-storage The trigger 38 has a portion 49 located adjacent the roller 32. When the door l3 closes, this portion 49 engages the latch keeper 2i, whereupon the trigger it is rotated in the counterclockwise direction. as viewed in Figs. 2

to the keeper-releasing position by a rotation of the rod 2! in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Figs. 2 and 3. To eflect such rotation, the rod 21 projects downwardly into a recess 5| formed in the base of the door and the projecting portion of the rod 21 is bent sidewardly to'form a lever arm 52. A push plate 53 is secured to the extremities of the lever arm 52.

The rod 21 is rotated by means of a Push rod 54 located in the machine compartment I! of the refrigerator cabinet it, which rod 54 is adapted for endwise movement in the general direction in which the portion of the door It adjacent the push plate 53 moves during the initial opening movement of the door IS. The push rod 54 extends through openings in the downwardly-extending legs 56 of a C-shaped metal strip which is secured at its center to the lower wall of the food-storage chamber II. A spring 51 biases the push rod 54 to the retracted position.

A generally L-shaped lever 58 is'lournaled on a pin Si in the machine compartment l2 and the lower leg of the lever 58 extends forwardly from the machine compartment and is provided with a treadle 62 adapted to be depressed by the foot of the person wishing to open the door I3. The upper extremity'of the lever 50 engages a collar 63 on the push rod 54 to push the rod 54 forwardly.

It will be apparent from the above that the foot pressure on the treadle 62 pushes the rod 5 and the push plate 53 forwardly with respect to the door I! of the food-storage chamber II, and that this forward movement of the push plate rotates the rod 21 and moves the latch bolt 33 to the keeper-releasing position as shown in Fig. 3. Further downward movement of the treadle 62 produces further motion of the push rod 54 to move the door from its fully closed position. This action is shown by the dotted lines of Fig. 1. The push imparted to the door by the push rod 54 will, furthermore, swing the door is open a substantial distance against the action of the weak hinge sprin so that the door may be caught with the elbow or body of the person wishing to gain access to the food-storage chamber I l and moved to the fully open position. when said person releases the door I! by merely moving away therefrom, the hinge spring returns the door I! to substantially its closed position, in which position the trigger 38 strikes the latch keeper 2| and releases the latch bolt 33 for engagement with the keeper 2 I! It will be apparent from the above description that this invention provides a door-opening mechanism for a refrigerator cabinet which is of great convenience and that the door of the cabinet may be opened by the device of this invention without the use of hands and will also be closed when the door is released without requiring the use of the hands of the person gaining access to the cabinet.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the artthat itisnotsolimitedbutissusceptibloof various changes and modifications without dcparting from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are specifically set forth the appended claims.

What I claim' is:

1. In a door and a lamb therefor, a latching and door-opening device for said door, said device comprising a latch bolt on said door, a keeper for said latch bolt, said keeper being secured to the door lamb, said latch being adapted for movement to a keeper-engaging position and a keeper-releasing position. means for biasing said latch bolt to the keeper-ensuin pos tion, a push plate on said door adapted for limited movement in the general direction in which the portion of the door adjacent to the push plate moves during the initial opening movement of the door, an operative connection between the latch bolt and the push platej-to move said latch bolt to the keeper-releasing position when the push plate is moved in said direction, and means for pushing said push plate in said direction to move said latch bolt to the keeper-releasing position and thereafter push said door from its closed position adjacent the door jamb.

2. In a door and a door lamb therefor, the combination of a latching and door-opening device for said door, said device including a latch bolt on said door, a keeper for said latch bolt. said keeper being secured to the door lamb, said latch being adapted for movement to a keeperengaging position and a keeper-releasing position, means for biasing said latch bolt to the keeper-engaging position, a trigger for retaining the latch bolt in the keeper-releasing position, means for actuating said trigger to release said latch bolt when the door is moved from an open position to a substantially closed position, a push plate on saiddoor adapted for limited movement in the general direction in which the portion of the door adjacent to the push plate moves during the initial opening movement or the door, an operative connection between the latch bolt and the push plate to move said latch bolt to the keeper-releasing position when the push plateis moved in said direction, and means for pushing said push plate in said direction to move said latch bolt to the keeper-releasing position and thereafter push said door from its closed position adiacent the door lamb.

3. In a latch mechanism for a door, said door being hingedly secured at one of its edges to a door frame, the combination of a rod journaled on said door adjacent to an edge of the door remote from said hingedly secured edge thereof, a latch bolt secured to said rod to rotate therewith, a latch keeper secured to said door frame.

sition, and means for pushing said push plate in the door-opening direction when the doo is closed to move said latch from the keeper-enga ing position to the keeper-releasing position.

LESLIE 3. ll. BUCHANAN. 

